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This May 3 file photo shows a view of Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the day after a US military raid that ended with the death of the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The American forces who raided Osama bin Laden's compound were authorized and equipped to fight Pakistani forces and police if they interfered with the operation that killed the terrorist leader.

The disclosure that the US was willing to risk a military confrontation with its ally is yet another sign of the low trust between the US and Pakistan. Last week American officials said that the US opted not to tell Pakistan about the mission or Mr. bin Laden's whereabouts beforehand because it could not be sure that Pakistan would not leak the information.

“Some people may have assumed we could talk our way out of a jam, but given our difficult relationship with Pakistan right now, the president did not want to leave anything to chance,” a senior administration official told the Times. “He wanted extra forces if they were necessary.”